US20010035200A1 - Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method - Google Patents
Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20010035200A1 US20010035200A1 US09/892,090 US89209001A US2001035200A1 US 20010035200 A1 US20010035200 A1 US 20010035200A1 US 89209001 A US89209001 A US 89209001A US 2001035200 A1 US2001035200 A1 US 2001035200A1
- Authority
- US
- United States
- Prior art keywords
- output shaft
- scrub
- substrate
- rotation drive
- air supply
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 238000005406 washing Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 46
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 20
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 77
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 46
- 239000007788 liquid Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 238000003825 pressing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 11
- 238000005201 scrubbing Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 6
- 230000000994 depressogenic effect Effects 0.000 claims description 15
- 239000012530 fluid Substances 0.000 claims 2
- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 description 39
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 description 20
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 description 11
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 7
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 5
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 description 4
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 description 4
- XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N water Substances O XLYOFNOQVPJJNP-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 4
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 3
- 230000002093 peripheral effect Effects 0.000 description 3
- 238000005299 abrasion Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000000919 ceramic Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000000356 contaminant Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000011521 glass Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 2
- 229920000139 polyethylene terephthalate Polymers 0.000 description 2
- 239000005020 polyethylene terephthalate Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000009467 reduction Effects 0.000 description 2
- 230000007261 regionalization Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000004677 Nylon Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000002411 adverse Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000009937 brining Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003749 cleanliness Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000593 degrading effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000005259 measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229910021645 metal ion Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 210000000050 mohair Anatomy 0.000 description 1
- 229920001778 nylon Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 150000002894 organic compounds Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- -1 polyethylene terephthalate Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000011347 resin Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229920005989 resin Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 238000006748 scratching Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000002393 scratching effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001179 sorption measurement Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012360 testing method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002351 wastewater Substances 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
- H01L21/67028—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
- H01L21/6704—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing
- H01L21/67051—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing using mainly spraying means, e.g. nozzles
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B08—CLEANING
- B08B—CLEANING IN GENERAL; PREVENTION OF FOULING IN GENERAL
- B08B1/00—Cleaning by methods involving the use of tools
- B08B1/30—Cleaning by methods involving the use of tools by movement of cleaning members over a surface
- B08B1/32—Cleaning by methods involving the use of tools by movement of cleaning members over a surface using rotary cleaning members
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
- G05G—CONTROL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS INSOFAR AS CHARACTERISED BY MECHANICAL FEATURES ONLY
- G05G1/00—Controlling members, e.g. knobs or handles; Assemblies or arrangements thereof; Indicating position of controlling members
- G05G1/08—Controlling members for hand actuation by rotary movement, e.g. hand wheels
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02—Manufacture or treatment of semiconductor devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/02041—Cleaning
- H01L21/02043—Cleaning before device manufacture, i.e. Begin-Of-Line process
- H01L21/02052—Wet cleaning only
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
- H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67005—Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
- H01L21/67011—Apparatus for manufacture or treatment
- H01L21/67017—Apparatus for fluid treatment
- H01L21/67028—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like
- H01L21/6704—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing
- H01L21/67046—Apparatus for fluid treatment for cleaning followed by drying, rinsing, stripping, blasting or the like for wet cleaning or washing using mainly scrubbing means, e.g. brushes
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10S134/00—Cleaning and liquid contact with solids
- Y10S134/902—Semiconductor wafer
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method for washing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and an LCD glass substrate.
- a single-processing substrate washing system is used for removing contaminants, such as particles, organic compounds, and metal ions, attached to a surface of a semiconductor wafer.
- the single-processing substrate washing system has a scrub washing apparatus for scrubbing away attached materials (contaminants) from the surface of the wafer by brining a brush or a sponge (hereinafter referred to as “scrub member”) into contact with the wafer in rotation.
- the scrub washing apparatus has a swingable horizontal arm, a vertical output shaft arranged at a tip portion of the horizontal arm, a scrub member directly or indirectly supported by the vertical output shaft, a rotation drive means for driving the rotation of the scrub member together with the vertical output shaft, and a press means for pressing the scrub member downward together with the vertical output shaft.
- a contact pressure of the scrub member to the substrate (hereinafter referred to as “scrub contact pressure”) corresponds to a total force of a press force given to the scrub member by the press means and a weight of the scrub member itself.
- the surface of the substrate is desirably washed by properly controlling conditions S including the scrub contact pressure, a rotation speed of the scrub member, a moving speed of the scrub member, and a rotation speed of the substrate, in accordance with the surface state of the substrate.
- Such a scrub apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI publication Nos. 8-141518, 8-141519.
- an expandable bellows mechanism and an air cylinder mechanism are employed as the press means.
- the press force is applied to the vertical output shaft by expanding and contracting of the bellows fitted at an upper end of the vertical output shaft.
- the air cylinder mechanism the press force is applied from the cylinder to the vertical output shaft by protruding or retracting a piston rod attached to an upper end of the vertical output shaft.
- the press force may not be desirably transmitted to the scrub member.
- a belt mechanism is used as a rotation drive mean in the conventional apparatus, the rotation force may not be desirably transmitted to the scrub member because the tension of the belt varies.
- a driving force transmission mechanism of the conventional apparatus is complicated in structure since numerous mechanical elements such as a belt, a pulley, a bellows, an air cylinder, and a bearing, are assembled, resulting in generation of particles in a non-negligible amount. The generated particles are attached to the substrate, degrading the cleanliness of the substrate surface.
- An object of the present invention is to provide a scrub washing apparatus and method capable of transmitting a desired press force and a rotation driving force to a scrub member without fail and generating few amount of particles.
- a scrub washing apparatus comprising:
- a washing liquid supply mechanism for supplying a washing liquid to the substrate mounted on the mounting table
- a scrub member connected directly or indirectly to the output shaft, for scrubbing the substrate on the mounting table in contact therewith;
- a rotation drive mechanism provided above the press mechanism at a position where the rotation drive mechanism is capable of being engaged with the output shaft, for directly rotating the scrub member by engaging with the output shaft.
- the output shaft has an upper portion extending upward from the press mechanism, a driven engage member attached to the upper portion, and a lower portion extending downward from the press mechanism and connected to the scrub member;
- the rotation drive mechanism has a rotation drive shaft extending downward and a drive engage member attached to a lower end of the rotation drive shaft.
- the apparatus further comprises a liftable moving mechanism for moving the output shaft up and down to the press mechanism.
- the liftable moving mechanism moves up the output shaft to engage the driven engage member with the drive engage member, thereby transmitting the rotation drive force from the rotation driving mechanism to the output shaft.
- the drive engage member preferably has
- the driven engage member preferably has
- the output shaft is moved up by the liftably moving mechanism to engage the depressed portions with the pair of rollers, thereby transmitting rotation driving force from the rotation drive mechanism to the output shaft.
- the driven engage member has a plurality of projections extending in direction of the rotation drive shaft. Depressed portions are formed between two adjacent projections. The drive engage member is engaged with the depressed portions.
- a scrub washing method of scrubbing a substrate with a scrub member while a washing liquid is supplied to the substrate by transmitting a press force and a rotation driving force to the scrub member by means of an output shaft and a rotation drive shaft which comprises the steps of:
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a substrate washing system, shown partly cutaway;
- FIG. 2 is a schematical plan view of the scrub washing apparatus
- FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the scrub washing apparatus
- FIG. 4 is an inner perspective view of a driving section of the scrub washing apparatus
- FIG. 5 is an inner perspective view of a support arm and a scrub member
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing that the drive engage section is engaged with the driven engage section according to the first embodiment
- FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a drive engage section in engagement of a driven engage section according to a second embodiment
- FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view showing an inner structure of an air cylinder accompanying a block diagram of the peripheral elements.
- FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a circuit of the air cylinder equipped with an electrical air supply regulator.
- a substrate washing system 1 has a loader/unloader section 2 , a process section 5 , and transport arm mechanisms 3 , 4 .
- the loader/unloader section 2 has a mounting table 2 a extending in an X-axis direction.
- a cassette transporting passage (not shown) is provided in front of the mounting table 2 a .
- a cassette C is transported by a transport robot (not shown) along the cassette transporting passage and mounted on the mounting table 2 a .
- four cassettes C are mounted on the mounting table 2 a .
- Each cassette C stores 25 semiconductor wafers W which constitute one lot.
- the sub transport arm mechanism 3 is arranged at a back surface side of the cassette mounting table 2 a .
- a wafer W is taken out of the cassette C by the sub transport arm mechanism 3 and transferred to the main transport arm mechanism 4 of the process section 5 .
- the process section 5 has the main transport arm mechanism 4 and two washing units 7 , 8 , a dry unit 9 , and a reverse unit 10 .
- the main transport arm mechanism 4 is movably arranged along a transport passage 6 extending in the Y-axis direction.
- the washing units 7 , 8 having a single-processing scrub washing apparatus are arranged along one of sides of the transport passage 6 .
- the dry unit 9 and the reverse unit 10 are arranged on the other side of the transport passage 6 .
- the dry unit 9 has a hot plate for heating the wafer W to dry.
- the reverse unit 10 has a mechanism for turning over the wafer W so as to change an upper surface to a lower surface of the wafer W.
- a washing liquid supply apparatus (not shown) and a waster water collect apparatus (not shown) are arranged.
- Each of the transport arm mechanisms 3 , 4 has an arm portion, an X-axis drive mechanism (not shown), a Z-axis drive mechanism (not shown), a ⁇ -rotation mechanism (not shown), and an arm back-and-forth driving mechanism (not shown).
- the arm portion is liftably moved by the Z-axis drive mechanism (not shown) in the Z-axis direction, rotated around the Z-axis by the ⁇ -rotation mechanism, and moved back and forth by the arm back-and-forth moving mechanism.
- the X-axis drive mechanism, Z-axis drive mechanism, ⁇ -rotation mechanism, arm back-and-forth moving mechanism is controlled by a controller 73 shown in FIG. 5 on the basis of initially input data.
- the process unit 7 is surrounded by a case 20 and having a loading/unloading port 7 a in the front surface side of the case 20 .
- the wafer W is loaded into and unloaded from the process unit 7 through the loading/unloading port 7 a by the main transport arm mechanism 4 .
- a spin chuck 22 is provided at near a center of the case 20 .
- the spin chuck 22 has a mounting table 22 a , a plurality of mechanical chucks (not shown) for holding the wafer W, and a motor 21 for rotating the mounting table 22 a .
- the motor 21 is controlled by the controller 73 .
- a vacuum adsorption mechanism may be used in place of the mechanical chuck serving as the holding means for the wafer W.
- a cup 23 is provided so as to surround the wafer W on the spin chuck 22 .
- the cup 23 is used for receiving liquid scattered from the wafer W.
- a drain 23 a is formed at the bottom of the cup 23 . The waste water is discharged from the cup 23 through the drain 23 a.
- a scrub washing mechanism 25 and a washing liquid supply mechanism 87 are arranged respectively at both sides of the cup 23 .
- the scrub washing mechanism 25 has a scrub portion 24 having a sponge (scrub member) 85 .
- the scrub portion 24 is provided at one end of the arm member 26 .
- the arm member 26 is supported substantially horizontally by a support arm 39 covered with a cover 40 shown in FIG. 4.
- the washing liquid supply mechanism 87 is located so as to face the scrub washing mechanism with the spin chuck 22 interposed therebetween.
- a nozzle 87 a is attached to an arm tip portion of the washing liquid supply mechanism 87 .
- Pure water is supplied to the nozzle 87 a from a liquid supply unit 88 (shown in FIG. 5).
- an arm swinging angle ⁇ 2 of the rinse mechanism 87 is equal to a swinging angle ⁇ 1 of the arm member 26 of the scrub washing mechanism 25 .
- a sensor 74 is provided at a home position in which the scrub portion 24 is stand-by when it is not used.
- the sensor 74 measures a scrub contact pressure of the scrub portion 74 .
- the sensor 74 is formed of, for example, load cells which detect distortion by weight loading, in terms of a change in electrical resistance value.
- the sensor 74 is brought into contact with the scrub portion 24 when the scrub portion is not in use, thereby determining the contact pressure. Data of the electric signal is obtained when the scrub contact pressure is equal to a desired pressure value on the basis of the determination results, and then stored in the control section 73 .
- the “desired pressure value” corresponds to the scrub contact pressure previously obtained by a trial washing test in which a dummy wafer DW is scrub-washed by the scrub portion 24 used in practice.
- the controller 73 When the wafer is washed in practice, the controller 73 outputs the desired pressure data from the memory and sends it to an electrical air supply regulator 72 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 9) to control a supply pressure of air to be supplied to the air cylinder 50 . In this way, the scrub contact pressure of the scrub portion 24 to the wafer W, can be properly controlled. In this case, it is desirable that the height of a measurement surface 74 a of the sensor 74 be equal to the height of the upper surface of the wafer W held by the spin chuck 22 , as shown in FIG. 3.
- a bracket 31 is fixed at a lower surface of the base table 30 of the case 20 .
- a cylinder 32 is attached to the bracket 31 .
- a rod 33 of the cylinder 32 supports a support board 36 on the upper surface of which a motor 34 and a bearing 35 are arranged.
- the rotation driving force of the motor 34 is transmitted to the bearing 35 through a belt 37 .
- the arm member 26 is constituted of a frame 26 a and a cover 26 b and thus the inner space thereof is hollow.
- the inner space of the arm member 26 is locally evacuated through the exhaust tube 82 .
- the outer space of the arm member 26 is locally evacuated through an exhaust tube 81 .
- the support rod 39 mentioned above is connected to a lower surface of a proximal end side of the frame 26 a .
- a scrub wash assembly 25 is attached to a distal end side of the frame 26 a .
- An upper half portion of the scrub wash assembly 25 is covered with the cover 26 b and the frame 26 a and thus hidden within the arm member 26 .
- a lower half of the scrub wash assembly 25 protrudes downwardly out of the arm member 26 through an opening 26 c .
- the scrub portion 24 is attached to the lower half portion of the scrub wash assembly 25 .
- An air cylinder 50 is attached to the frame 26 a .
- the air cylinder 50 has a rod 53 protruding upward and downward as the output shaft.
- An upper portion 53 a of the rod can be engaged with a rotation drive axis 56 of a motor 52 via engage members 60 , 64 .
- a lower portion 53 b of the rod is connected to the scrub 24 via an opening 26 c , a coupling 54 and a holder 55 .
- the scrub portion 24 is held by the holder 55 .
- the holder 55 is detachably attached to the coupling 54 .
- the coupling 54 is detachably connected to the lower portion 53 b of the rod.
- the scrub portion 24 of this embodiment whose weight is 170 - 220 g , has a scrub member 85 made of sponge.
- various sponges different in hardness may be used.
- a soft sponge may be combined with a hard sponge as the scrub member 85 .
- Such a scrub member 85 is capable of washing the surface of the wafer softly and uniformly without scratching a pattern formation surface or a pattern formation planning surface of the wafer W.
- the scrub member may be a hard brush such as a hard-bristle nylon brush and a soft brush such as a soft-bristle mohair brush in accordance with an object to be washed.
- a seal ring 80 is attached to the lower surface of the frame 26 a so as to surround the lower portion (output rod) 53 b of the rod.
- the seal ring 80 has a depressed portion 80 a .
- An upper portion 53 a of the coupling 54 is inserted to the depressed portion 80 a to engage with each other, thereby forming a labyrinth seal.
- an exhaust tube 81 communicating with an exhaust apparatus 69 is attached to the seal ring 80 .
- the opening of the exhaust tube 81 is formed at the depressed portion 80 a so as to exhaust the particles generated by rub movement between the cylinder 50 and the lower portion 53 b , through the exhaust tube 81 . Since such a local evacuation is made, the particles may not fall on the wafer W during the scrub washing.
- the process liquid supply tube 86 communicating with the process liquid supply unit 88 passes through the hollow arm member 26 and opened near the scrub portion 24 .
- the process liquid supply unit 88 houses a pure wafer supply source and a flow rate control valve.
- a power supply switch (not shown) of the flow rate control valve is connected to the controller 73 .
- the controller 73 sends an instruction signal to the process liquid supply unit 88 , pure water is sent from the unit 88 to a supply pipe 86 and output from an output port of the supply pipe 86 toward the scrub member 24 .
- the air cylinder 50 which is provided in the arm member 26 , has an output shaft 53 .
- the output shaft 53 has an upper portion 53 a of the rod protruding upward of the cylinder 50 and the lower portion of the rod 53 b protruding downward of the cylinder 50 .
- the driven engage member 64 is attached onto the upper portion 53 a by means of a screw 65 .
- the driven engage member 64 has a second rectangular board 64 a and four vertical projections 64 b .
- the vertical projections 64 b stand on corners of the second rectangular board 64 a , respectively.
- Depressed portions 64 c are formed between two adjacent vertical projections 64 a . To describe more specifically, the depressed portions 64 c are formed between two pairs of vertical projections 64 b standing side by side along a short side of the second rectangular board 64 a.
- the stepping motor 52 is attached to an upper surface of the bracket 51 fixed on the air cylinder 50 . More specifically, the air cylinder 50 and the motor 52 are individually fixed to a common bracket 51 in such a way that the motor 52 is located immediately above the air cylinder 50 .
- the rotation drive shaft 56 of the motor 52 extends downward and arranged concentrically in line with the output shaft 53 .
- a drive engage member 60 is attached to the rotation drive shaft 56 .
- the drive engage member 60 has a first rectangular board 61 connected to a rotation drive shaft 56 , a horizontal support shaft 62 and a pair of rollers 63 .
- Each of the roller 63 is rotatably supported by a side surface of the first rectangular board 61 with the aid of a horizontal support shaft 62 .
- the pair of rollers 63 are arranged so as to correspond to a pair of depressed portions 64 c , as shown in FIG. 6.
- an exhaust tube 82 is attached to the bracket 51 .
- the opening of the exhaust tube 82 is formed near the portion at which the drive engage member 60 is engaged with the driven engage member 64 to exhaust the particles generated at the engage portion.
- the exhaust tube 82 is merged with a lower exhaust tube 81 at a merge portion 83 and communicates with a suction port of the vacuum exhaust apparatus 69 . In this way, attachment of the particles to the wafer W can be efficiently prevented by the local evacuation.
- the rotation driving force transmitting mechanism has a drive engage member 160 and a driven engage member 165 .
- the drive engage member 160 has a cylindrical portion 161 having a hole 161 a and three first projections 162 attached in the outer periphery of the cylindrical portion 161 .
- a tip portion of the rotation drive shaft 56 is fitted into and combined therewith.
- the drive engage member 160 is rotated by the motor 52 .
- the driven engage member 165 has a disk portion 163 and three second projections 164 attached around an upper surface of the disk portion 163 .
- an output shaft 53 a of the air cylinder 50 is connected to the lower surface of the disk portion 163 .
- each of the second projections 164 is fitted between the adjacent first projections 162 . Since the driven engage member 165 is engaged with the drive engage member 160 , the rotation driving force of the motor 52 is ready to transmit directly to the output shaft 53 .
- the engage members 160 , 165 are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin.
- an air supply chamber 50 a and exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b are formed inside the air cylinder 50 .
- Two air supply pipes 71 , 77 are individually communicated with the air supply chamber 50 a .
- a air supply pipe and an air exhaust pipe 78 are individually communicated with the exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b .
- the exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b is located above the air supply chamber 50 a and both chambers are communicated with each other.
- the exhaust pipe 78 communicates with the exhaust air supply chamber 50 b .
- the air supply pipe 77 communicates with an air supply apparatus 68
- the air supply pipe 71 communicates with an air supply apparatus 67 by way of the electrical air supply regulator 72 .
- the controller 73 is connected to the power supply 66 of the electrical air supply regulator 72 to control the air supply to the air supply chamber 50 a by the controller 73 .
- the exhaust pipe 78 is an open passage for releasing an inner pressure of the cylinder 50 outside.
- the air supply apparatuses 67 , 68 are discretely provided in this embodiment. However, air may be supplied from a common air supply apparatus to each of the two air supply pipes 71 , 77 . Note that air is always supplied to the air supply chamber 50 a and the exhaust air supply chamber 50 b from the air supply pipe 77 . In contrast, air is supplied from the air supply pipe 71 only when the scrub member 85 presses to the wafer W.
- the air supply pipe 77 is branched into two flow passages 77 a , 77 b within the air cylinder 50 .
- An opening of the branched passage 77 a is formed within the exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b .
- An opening of the branched passage 77 b is formed within the air supply chamber 50 a .
- Air bearings 75 , 76 are formed in the passages 77 a , 77 b , respectively.
- An air cushion is formed in a slit between the rod 53 and the bearings 75 and 76 by supplying air. Since rub resistance between the rod 53 and the cylinder 50 is reduced by the bearings 75 , 76 , the scrub washing apparatus is excellent in abrasion resistance and produces few amount of particles.
- the air bearings 75 , 76 are made of porous ceramic in the form of a ring.
- a ring-form stopper 70 is attached to a piston rod 53 serving as an output shaft inside the air cylinder 50 .
- the stopper 70 is provided in the air chamber 50 a of the air cylinder 50 , thereby preventing the output shaft 53 from coming out of the cylinder 50 .
- the stopper 70 may be formed within the exhaust air supply chamber 50 b.
- the stopper 70 can be kept in contact with neither upper sheet 50 c nor lower sheet 50 d within the air supply chamber 50 a as shown in FIG. 9. As described, it is possible to control the scrub contact pressure at 20 gf or less by applying thrust upwardly to the output shaft 53 .
- the scrub contact pressure can be changed to, for example, 10 gf, 20 gf, 30 gf, 40 gf, or 50 gf by controlling the power supply source of the electrical air supply regulator 72 of the controller 73 .
- a shutter is opened, and then, the wafer W is loaded into the unit 7 through the loading/unloading port 7 a and mounted on the spin chuck 22 .
- the wafer W is held by the spin chuck 22 and rotated at a predetermined speed.
- the arm member 26 is rotated and the scrub portion 24 is located above a rotation center of the wafer W.
- the output shaft 53 is moved up to engage the driven engage member 64 ( 165 ) with the drive engage member 60 ( 160 ).
- a rotation driving force of the motor 52 is transmitted from the rotation drive shaft 56 to the output shaft 53 to rotate the scrub portion 24 . Since the rotation driving force is transmitted directly to the output shaft 53 , it becomes easy to control the rotation speed of the scrub portion 24 .
- the arm member 26 is moved down by the cylinder 32 to bring the rotating sponge 85 into contact with the upper surface of the wafer W.
- the weight of the scrub portion 24 is set at, for example, 200 gf.
- the scrub contact pressure is adjusted at 20 gf or less by controlling air supply to the air supply chamber 50 a of the air cylinder. In this case, thrust of the output shaft 53 working upwardly is controlled by air supply pressure, so that the scrub contact pressure of the scrub portion 24 can be smoothly controlled.
- the thrust of the output shaft 53 is not adversely affected while the thrust and rotation of the output shaft 53 are controlled, it becomes easy to control the rotation of the scrub portion 24 .
- the arm member 26 is rotationally moved at least from the center to the peripheral portion by operating the motor 34 to thereby wash the surface of the wafer W uniformly. Thereafter, both the nozzle 87 and the wafer W are moved upward. While pure water is supplied onto the upper surface of the wafer W from the nozzle 87 , the wafer surface is washed. After completion of the wash, attached solution is removed from the wafer W by rotating the spin chuck 22 at a high speed. In this way, the surface of the wafer is dried. The wafer W is then unloaded from the unit 6 .
- the structure of the arm member 26 can be simplified and the production of particles within the arm member 26 can be prevented. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the number of parts used in a surface processing apparatus 7 and mitigate load for assembly of the apparatus. Consequently, reduction in yield due to the particle attachment can be prevented.
- the substrate is not limited to a semiconductor wafer W as described in the embodiments.
- An LCD substrate, glass substrate, CD substrate, photomask, print substrate, ceramic substrate, and the like may be used.
- the output axis is not affected by external disturbances (tension of the belt etc.). It follows that the scrub contact pressure and rotation drive can be readily controlled. As a result, it is possible to obtain the scrub contact pressure stably during the processing and thus the reliability of the processing can be improved. Furthermore, since complicated transmitting parts such as a belt and a pulley, are not required, it is possible to construct the arm member simply and thus particles are prevented from being produced in the arm member. Therefore, it is possible to reduce that parts used in the processing apparatus and mitigate the load required for assembly of the apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent a reduction in yield due to the particle attachment.
- the thrust of the output shaft working in a vertical direction is controlled by air supply pressure
- the scrub contact pressure can be smoothly controlled.
- the up-and-down moving operation and the rotational operation of the output shaft are supported by using air pressure, the bearing of the output shaft exhibits excellent rub resistance and abrasion resistance. Even if particles are produced, the scattering of particles can be prevented beforehand.
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Power Engineering (AREA)
- Automation & Control Theory (AREA)
- Cleaning Or Drying Semiconductors (AREA)
Abstract
A scrub washing apparatus comprises a spin chuck for holding a substrate to be processed substantially horizontally, a nozzle for supplying a washing liquid to the substrate mounted on the spin chuck, an arm vertically and horizontally movably supported, an output shaft provided at the arm, a sponge brush connected directly or indirectly to the output shaft, for scrubbing the substrate on the spin chuck in contact therewith, a press mechanism moving the sponge brush downward together with the output shaft, for pressing the sponge brush against the substrate on the spin chuck, and a rotation drive mechanism provided above the press mechanism at a position where the rotation drive mechanism is capable of being engaged with the output shaft, for directly rotating the sponge brush by engaging with the output shaft.
Description
- The present invention relates to a scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method for washing a substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and an LCD glass substrate.
- In manufacturing steps of semiconductor devises, a single-processing substrate washing system is used for removing contaminants, such as particles, organic compounds, and metal ions, attached to a surface of a semiconductor wafer. The single-processing substrate washing system has a scrub washing apparatus for scrubbing away attached materials (contaminants) from the surface of the wafer by brining a brush or a sponge (hereinafter referred to as “scrub member”) into contact with the wafer in rotation.
- The scrub washing apparatus has a swingable horizontal arm, a vertical output shaft arranged at a tip portion of the horizontal arm, a scrub member directly or indirectly supported by the vertical output shaft, a rotation drive means for driving the rotation of the scrub member together with the vertical output shaft, and a press means for pressing the scrub member downward together with the vertical output shaft. A contact pressure of the scrub member to the substrate (hereinafter referred to as “scrub contact pressure”) corresponds to a total force of a press force given to the scrub member by the press means and a weight of the scrub member itself. The surface of the substrate is desirably washed by properly controlling conditions S including the scrub contact pressure, a rotation speed of the scrub member, a moving speed of the scrub member, and a rotation speed of the substrate, in accordance with the surface state of the substrate.
- Such a scrub apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI publication Nos. 8-141518, 8-141519. In these conventional apparatuses, an expandable bellows mechanism and an air cylinder mechanism are employed as the press means. For example, in the bellows mechanism described in Japanese Patent Application KOKAI 8-141518, the press force is applied to the vertical output shaft by expanding and contracting of the bellows fitted at an upper end of the vertical output shaft. In the air cylinder mechanism, the press force is applied from the cylinder to the vertical output shaft by protruding or retracting a piston rod attached to an upper end of the vertical output shaft. However, in the conventional apparatuses, if a rub resistance between the vertical output shaft and a bearing is changed, the press force may not be desirably transmitted to the scrub member. Since a belt mechanism is used as a rotation drive mean in the conventional apparatus, the rotation force may not be desirably transmitted to the scrub member because the tension of the belt varies. Furthermore, a driving force transmission mechanism of the conventional apparatus is complicated in structure since numerous mechanical elements such as a belt, a pulley, a bellows, an air cylinder, and a bearing, are assembled, resulting in generation of particles in a non-negligible amount. The generated particles are attached to the substrate, degrading the cleanliness of the substrate surface.
- An object of the present invention is to provide a scrub washing apparatus and method capable of transmitting a desired press force and a rotation driving force to a scrub member without fail and generating few amount of particles.
- According to the present invention, there is provided a scrub washing apparatus comprising:
- a mounting table for holding a substrate to be processed substantially horizontally;
- a washing liquid supply mechanism for supplying a washing liquid to the substrate mounted on the mounting table;
- an arm vertically and horizontally movably supported;
- an output shaft provided at the arm;
- a scrub member connected directly or indirectly to the output shaft, for scrubbing the substrate on the mounting table in contact therewith;
- a press mechanism moving the scrub member together with the output shaft, for pressing the scrub member against the substrate on the mounting table; and
- a rotation drive mechanism provided above the press mechanism at a position where the rotation drive mechanism is capable of being engaged with the output shaft, for directly rotating the scrub member by engaging with the output shaft.
- In this case, the output shaft has an upper portion extending upward from the press mechanism, a driven engage member attached to the upper portion, and a lower portion extending downward from the press mechanism and connected to the scrub member; and
- the rotation drive mechanism has a rotation drive shaft extending downward and a drive engage member attached to a lower end of the rotation drive shaft.
- The apparatus further comprises a liftable moving mechanism for moving the output shaft up and down to the press mechanism. The liftable moving mechanism moves up the output shaft to engage the driven engage member with the drive engage member, thereby transmitting the rotation drive force from the rotation driving mechanism to the output shaft.
- The drive engage member preferably has
- a first connection board connected to the rotation drive shaft;
- a horizontal support shaft attached to the first connection board; and
- a pair of rollers supported by the horizontal support shaft.
- The driven engage member preferably has
- a second connection board connected to the output shaft;
- a plurality of vertical projections respectively standing at corners of the second connection board; and
- depressed portions formed between two adjacent projections.
- The output shaft is moved up by the liftably moving mechanism to engage the depressed portions with the pair of rollers, thereby transmitting rotation driving force from the rotation drive mechanism to the output shaft.
- The driven engage member has a plurality of projections extending in direction of the rotation drive shaft. Depressed portions are formed between two adjacent projections. The drive engage member is engaged with the depressed portions.
- According to the present invention, there is provided a scrub washing method of scrubbing a substrate with a scrub member while a washing liquid is supplied to the substrate by transmitting a press force and a rotation driving force to the scrub member by means of an output shaft and a rotation drive shaft, which comprises the steps of:
- (a) setting a scrub contact pressure when the substrate is scrubbed with the scrub member, the output shaft being engaged with the rotation drive shaft and arranged on an extension line of the rotation drive shaft;
- (b) mounting the substrate on a mounting table;
- (c) moving the scrub member above the substrate mounted on the mounting table;
- (d) moving down the scrub member together with the output shaft;
- (e) transmitting a rotation drive force to the output shaft from the rotation drive shaft to rotate the scrub member; and
- (f) adjusting the pressing force of the scrub member to the substrate at the scrub contact pressure set at the step (a).
- In the conventional apparatus, since the rotation drive shaft is located at a distance from the output shaft, a rotation driving force is transmitted to the output shaft from the rotation drive shaft by way of a belt and a pulley. Since the rotation driving force is transmitted indirectly, the output shaft is likely to be affected by various external disturbances (change in tension of a belt), with the result that up-and-down movement and rotation movement of the output shaft become unstable.
- In contrast, in the apparatus of the present invention, since the rotation drive shaft is located immediately above the output shaft, the rotation driving force is transmitted directly from the rotation drive shaft to the output shaft. Since the rotation driving force is directly transmitted as described, the output shaft is not affected by the external disturbances, with the result that the up-and-down movement and the rotation movement of the output shaft become stable.
- Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.
- The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a substrate washing system, shown partly cutaway;
- FIG. 2 is a schematical plan view of the scrub washing apparatus;
- FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the scrub washing apparatus;
- FIG. 4 is an inner perspective view of a driving section of the scrub washing apparatus;
- FIG. 5 is an inner perspective view of a support arm and a scrub member;
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing that the drive engage section is engaged with the driven engage section according to the first embodiment;
- FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing a drive engage section in engagement of a driven engage section according to a second embodiment;
- FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view showing an inner structure of an air cylinder accompanying a block diagram of the peripheral elements; and
- FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a circuit of the air cylinder equipped with an electrical air supply regulator.
- Now, various preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.
- As shown in FIG. 1, a
substrate washing system 1 has a loader/unloader section 2, aprocess section 5, andtransport arm mechanisms 3, 4. The loader/unloader section 2 has a mounting table 2 a extending in an X-axis direction. In front of the mounting table 2 a, a cassette transporting passage (not shown) is provided. A cassette C is transported by a transport robot (not shown) along the cassette transporting passage and mounted on the mounting table 2 a. For example, four cassettes C are mounted on the mounting table 2 a. Eachcassette C stores 25 semiconductor wafers W which constitute one lot. - The sub transport arm mechanism3 is arranged at a back surface side of the cassette mounting table 2 a. A wafer W is taken out of the cassette C by the sub transport arm mechanism 3 and transferred to the main
transport arm mechanism 4 of theprocess section 5. - The
process section 5 has the maintransport arm mechanism 4 and twowashing units dry unit 9, and areverse unit 10. The maintransport arm mechanism 4 is movably arranged along atransport passage 6 extending in the Y-axis direction. Thewashing units transport passage 6. Thedry unit 9 and thereverse unit 10 are arranged on the other side of thetransport passage 6. Thedry unit 9 has a hot plate for heating the wafer W to dry. Thereverse unit 10 has a mechanism for turning over the wafer W so as to change an upper surface to a lower surface of the wafer W. At the back surface side of theprocess section 5, a washing liquid supply apparatus (not shown) and a waster water collect apparatus (not shown) are arranged. - Each of the
transport arm mechanisms 3, 4 has an arm portion, an X-axis drive mechanism (not shown), a Z-axis drive mechanism (not shown), a θ-rotation mechanism (not shown), and an arm back-and-forth driving mechanism (not shown). The arm portion is liftably moved by the Z-axis drive mechanism (not shown) in the Z-axis direction, rotated around the Z-axis by the θ-rotation mechanism, and moved back and forth by the arm back-and-forth moving mechanism. The X-axis drive mechanism, Z-axis drive mechanism, θ-rotation mechanism, arm back-and-forth moving mechanism is controlled by acontroller 73 shown in FIG. 5 on the basis of initially input data. - Now, referring to FIGS.2-5, the
first process unit 7 will be explained. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, theprocess unit 7 is surrounded by acase 20 and having a loading/unloading port 7 a in the front surface side of thecase 20. The wafer W is loaded into and unloaded from theprocess unit 7 through the loading/unloading port 7 a by the maintransport arm mechanism 4. Aspin chuck 22 is provided at near a center of thecase 20. Thespin chuck 22 has a mounting table 22 a, a plurality of mechanical chucks (not shown) for holding the wafer W, and amotor 21 for rotating the mounting table 22 a. Themotor 21 is controlled by thecontroller 73. Incidentally, a vacuum adsorption mechanism may be used in place of the mechanical chuck serving as the holding means for the wafer W. - A
cup 23 is provided so as to surround the wafer W on thespin chuck 22. Thecup 23 is used for receiving liquid scattered from the wafer W. A drain 23 a is formed at the bottom of thecup 23. The waste water is discharged from thecup 23 through the drain 23 a. - A
scrub washing mechanism 25 and a washingliquid supply mechanism 87 are arranged respectively at both sides of thecup 23. Thescrub washing mechanism 25 has ascrub portion 24 having a sponge (scrub member) 85. Thescrub portion 24 is provided at one end of thearm member 26. Thearm member 26 is supported substantially horizontally by asupport arm 39 covered with acover 40 shown in FIG. 4. - As shown in FIG. 2, the washing
liquid supply mechanism 87 is located so as to face the scrub washing mechanism with thespin chuck 22 interposed therebetween. A nozzle 87 a is attached to an arm tip portion of the washingliquid supply mechanism 87. Pure water is supplied to the nozzle 87 a from a liquid supply unit 88 (shown in FIG. 5). Note that an arm swinging angle θ2 of the rinsemechanism 87 is equal to a swinging angle θ1 of thearm member 26 of thescrub washing mechanism 25. - As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a
sensor 74 is provided at a home position in which thescrub portion 24 is stand-by when it is not used. Thesensor 74 measures a scrub contact pressure of thescrub portion 74. Thesensor 74 is formed of, for example, load cells which detect distortion by weight loading, in terms of a change in electrical resistance value. Thesensor 74 is brought into contact with thescrub portion 24 when the scrub portion is not in use, thereby determining the contact pressure. Data of the electric signal is obtained when the scrub contact pressure is equal to a desired pressure value on the basis of the determination results, and then stored in thecontrol section 73. The “desired pressure value” corresponds to the scrub contact pressure previously obtained by a trial washing test in which a dummy wafer DW is scrub-washed by thescrub portion 24 used in practice. - When the wafer is washed in practice, the
controller 73 outputs the desired pressure data from the memory and sends it to an electrical air supply regulator 72 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 9) to control a supply pressure of air to be supplied to theair cylinder 50. In this way, the scrub contact pressure of thescrub portion 24 to the wafer W, can be properly controlled. In this case, it is desirable that the height of a measurement surface 74 a of thesensor 74 be equal to the height of the upper surface of the wafer W held by thespin chuck 22, as shown in FIG. 3. - As shown in FIG. 4, a
bracket 31 is fixed at a lower surface of the base table 30 of thecase 20. To thebracket 31, acylinder 32 is attached. Arod 33 of thecylinder 32 supports asupport board 36 on the upper surface of which amotor 34 and abearing 35 are arranged. The rotation driving force of themotor 34 is transmitted to thebearing 35 through abelt 37. - An upper portion of the
shaft 38 of thebearing 35 loosely threads through the base table 30 and connected to a lower end portion of thesupport rod 39. An upper portion of thesupport rod 39 is fixed to a proximal end portion of thearm member 26. Theseshaft 38 andsupport rod 39 are covered with slide covers 40 and 41. Thelower cover 41 is connected to the base table 30. Theupper cover 40 is attached to thearm member 26. Theupper cover 40 is larger in diameter than thelower cover 41. When therod 33 is retracted into thecylinder 32, theupper cover 40 slidably moves to thelower cover 41, with the result that thesupport rod 39 moves up thescrub portion 24 together with thearm member 26. - As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the
arm member 26 is constituted of a frame 26 a and acover 26 b and thus the inner space thereof is hollow. To eliminate the particles generated in thehollow arm member 26, the inner space of thearm member 26 is locally evacuated through theexhaust tube 82. Furthermore, to eliminate the particles generated outside thearm member 26, the outer space of thearm member 26 is locally evacuated through anexhaust tube 81. - The
support rod 39 mentioned above is connected to a lower surface of a proximal end side of the frame 26 a. Ascrub wash assembly 25 is attached to a distal end side of the frame 26 a. An upper half portion of thescrub wash assembly 25 is covered with thecover 26 b and the frame 26 a and thus hidden within thearm member 26. On the other hand, a lower half of thescrub wash assembly 25 protrudes downwardly out of thearm member 26 through anopening 26 c. Thescrub portion 24 is attached to the lower half portion of thescrub wash assembly 25. - An
air cylinder 50 is attached to the frame 26 a. Theair cylinder 50 has a rod 53 protruding upward and downward as the output shaft. Anupper portion 53 a of the rod can be engaged with arotation drive axis 56 of amotor 52 via engagemembers lower portion 53 b of the rod is connected to thescrub 24 via anopening 26 c, acoupling 54 and aholder 55. - The
scrub portion 24 is held by theholder 55. Theholder 55 is detachably attached to thecoupling 54. Thecoupling 54 is detachably connected to thelower portion 53 b of the rod. Thescrub portion 24 of this embodiment, whose weight is 170-220 g, has ascrub member 85 made of sponge. As thescrub member 85, various sponges different in hardness (soft sponge to hard sponge) may be used. A soft sponge may be combined with a hard sponge as thescrub member 85. Such ascrub member 85 is capable of washing the surface of the wafer softly and uniformly without scratching a pattern formation surface or a pattern formation planning surface of the wafer W. Note that the scrub member may be a hard brush such as a hard-bristle nylon brush and a soft brush such as a soft-bristle mohair brush in accordance with an object to be washed. - As shown in FIG. 5, a
seal ring 80 is attached to the lower surface of the frame 26 a so as to surround the lower portion (output rod) 53 b of the rod. Theseal ring 80 has a depressed portion 80 a. Anupper portion 53 a of thecoupling 54 is inserted to the depressed portion 80 a to engage with each other, thereby forming a labyrinth seal. Note that anexhaust tube 81 communicating with anexhaust apparatus 69 is attached to theseal ring 80. The opening of theexhaust tube 81 is formed at the depressed portion 80 a so as to exhaust the particles generated by rub movement between thecylinder 50 and thelower portion 53 b, through theexhaust tube 81. Since such a local evacuation is made, the particles may not fall on the wafer W during the scrub washing. - The process
liquid supply tube 86 communicating with the processliquid supply unit 88 passes through thehollow arm member 26 and opened near thescrub portion 24. The processliquid supply unit 88 houses a pure wafer supply source and a flow rate control valve. A power supply switch (not shown) of the flow rate control valve is connected to thecontroller 73. When thecontroller 73 sends an instruction signal to the processliquid supply unit 88, pure water is sent from theunit 88 to asupply pipe 86 and output from an output port of thesupply pipe 86 toward thescrub member 24. - Now, referring to FIG. 6, we will explain a rotation drive force transmitting mechanism for transmitting a rotation drive force of the
motor 52 to output shafts 53. - The
air cylinder 50, which is provided in thearm member 26, has an output shaft 53. The output shaft 53 has anupper portion 53 a of the rod protruding upward of thecylinder 50 and the lower portion of therod 53 b protruding downward of thecylinder 50. As shown in FIG. 6, the driven engagemember 64 is attached onto theupper portion 53 a by means of ascrew 65. The driven engagemember 64 has a secondrectangular board 64 a and fourvertical projections 64 b. Thevertical projections 64 b stand on corners of the secondrectangular board 64 a, respectively.Depressed portions 64 c are formed between two adjacentvertical projections 64 a. To describe more specifically, thedepressed portions 64 c are formed between two pairs ofvertical projections 64 b standing side by side along a short side of the secondrectangular board 64 a. - On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, the stepping
motor 52 is attached to an upper surface of thebracket 51 fixed on theair cylinder 50. More specifically, theair cylinder 50 and themotor 52 are individually fixed to acommon bracket 51 in such a way that themotor 52 is located immediately above theair cylinder 50. Therotation drive shaft 56 of themotor 52 extends downward and arranged concentrically in line with the output shaft 53. To therotation drive shaft 56, a drive engagemember 60 is attached. The drive engagemember 60 has a firstrectangular board 61 connected to arotation drive shaft 56, ahorizontal support shaft 62 and a pair ofrollers 63. Each of theroller 63 is rotatably supported by a side surface of the firstrectangular board 61 with the aid of ahorizontal support shaft 62. The pair ofrollers 63 are arranged so as to correspond to a pair ofdepressed portions 64 c, as shown in FIG. 6. - When the output shaft53 is moved upward to lift up the driven engage
member 64, thedepressed portion 64 c is guided a long theroller 63 to move up the driven engage member. Thereupon, the rotation drive force of themotor 52 is transmitted directly to the output shaft 53 through the engagemembers cylinder 50 is directly transmitted to the output shaft 53. - As shown in FIG. 5, an
exhaust tube 82 is attached to thebracket 51. The opening of theexhaust tube 82 is formed near the portion at which the drive engagemember 60 is engaged with the driven engagemember 64 to exhaust the particles generated at the engage portion. Note that theexhaust tube 82 is merged with alower exhaust tube 81 at amerge portion 83 and communicates with a suction port of thevacuum exhaust apparatus 69. In this way, attachment of the particles to the wafer W can be efficiently prevented by the local evacuation. - Now, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, another rotation driving force transmitting mechanism will be explained.
- The rotation driving force transmitting mechanism according to another embodiment has a drive engage
member 160 and a driven engagemember 165. The drive engagemember 160 has acylindrical portion 161 having a hole 161 a and threefirst projections 162 attached in the outer periphery of thecylindrical portion 161. To the hole 161 a of thecylindrical portion 161, a tip portion of therotation drive shaft 56 is fitted into and combined therewith. The drive engagemember 160 is rotated by themotor 52. - On the other hand, the driven engage
member 165 has adisk portion 163 and threesecond projections 164 attached around an upper surface of thedisk portion 163. To the lower surface of thedisk portion 163, anoutput shaft 53 a of theair cylinder 50 is connected. When the output shaft 53 is allowed to protrude upward from thecylinder 50, each of thesecond projections 164 is fitted between the adjacentfirst projections 162. Since the driven engagemember 165 is engaged with the drive engagemember 160, the rotation driving force of themotor 52 is ready to transmit directly to the output shaft 53. Note that the engagemembers - As shown in FIG. 9, an
air supply chamber 50 a and exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b are formed inside theair cylinder 50. Twoair supply pipes air supply chamber 50 a. A air supply pipe and anair exhaust pipe 78 are individually communicated with the exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b. The exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b is located above theair supply chamber 50 a and both chambers are communicated with each other. - As shown in FIG. 10, the
exhaust pipe 78 communicates with the exhaustair supply chamber 50 b. Theair supply pipe 77 communicates with anair supply apparatus 68, whereas theair supply pipe 71 communicates with anair supply apparatus 67 by way of the electricalair supply regulator 72. Thecontroller 73 is connected to thepower supply 66 of the electricalair supply regulator 72 to control the air supply to theair supply chamber 50 a by thecontroller 73. - Note that the
exhaust pipe 78 is an open passage for releasing an inner pressure of thecylinder 50 outside. - The
air supply apparatuses air supply pipes air supply chamber 50 a and the exhaustair supply chamber 50 b from theair supply pipe 77. In contrast, air is supplied from theair supply pipe 71 only when thescrub member 85 presses to the wafer W. - The
air supply pipe 77 is branched into twoflow passages 77 a, 77 b within theair cylinder 50. An opening of the branched passage 77 a is formed within the exhaust-air supply chamber 50 b. An opening of thebranched passage 77 b is formed within theair supply chamber 50 a.Air bearings passages 77 a, 77 b, respectively. An air cushion is formed in a slit between the rod 53 and thebearings cylinder 50 is reduced by thebearings air bearings - As shown in FIG. 9, a ring-
form stopper 70 is attached to a piston rod 53 serving as an output shaft inside theair cylinder 50. Thestopper 70 is provided in theair chamber 50 a of theair cylinder 50, thereby preventing the output shaft 53 from coming out of thecylinder 50. Note that thestopper 70 may be formed within the exhaustair supply chamber 50 b. - During the scrub washing process, the
stopper 70 can be kept in contact with neitherupper sheet 50 c norlower sheet 50 d within theair supply chamber 50 a as shown in FIG. 9. As described, it is possible to control the scrub contact pressure at 20 gf or less by applying thrust upwardly to the output shaft 53. The scrub contact pressure can be changed to, for example, 10 gf, 20 gf, 30 gf, 40 gf, or 50 gf by controlling the power supply source of the electricalair supply regulator 72 of thecontroller 73. - Now, we will explain the case where the wafer W is scrub-washed by using the scrub washing apparatus mentioned above.
- First, a shutter is opened, and then, the wafer W is loaded into the
unit 7 through the loading/unloading port 7 a and mounted on thespin chuck 22. The wafer W is held by thespin chuck 22 and rotated at a predetermined speed. Then, thearm member 26 is rotated and thescrub portion 24 is located above a rotation center of the wafer W. The output shaft 53 is moved up to engage the driven engage member 64 (165) with the drive engage member 60 (160). Subsequently, a rotation driving force of themotor 52 is transmitted from therotation drive shaft 56 to the output shaft 53 to rotate thescrub portion 24. Since the rotation driving force is transmitted directly to the output shaft 53, it becomes easy to control the rotation speed of thescrub portion 24. - While the
scrub 24 is placed in a home position (stand-by position), the pressing force to be applied to the output shaft 53 is previously set at a value equal to the predetermined scrub pressure. - The
arm member 26 is moved down by thecylinder 32 to bring therotating sponge 85 into contact with the upper surface of the wafer W. Note that the weight of thescrub portion 24 is set at, for example, 200 gf. Furthermore, the scrub contact pressure is adjusted at 20 gf or less by controlling air supply to theair supply chamber 50 a of the air cylinder. In this case, thrust of the output shaft 53 working upwardly is controlled by air supply pressure, so that the scrub contact pressure of thescrub portion 24 can be smoothly controlled. The thrust of the output shaft 53 is not adversely affected while the thrust and rotation of the output shaft 53 are controlled, it becomes easy to control the rotation of thescrub portion 24. - Furthermore, complicated transmission parts such as a belt or a pulley are not required, so that rotation driving force of the
motor 52 can be transmitted to the rod 53 by use of a simple mechanism. As a result, the structure of thearm member 26 is simplified. In addition, no particles are generated due to rubbing between the belt and the pulley, unlike the conventional case. - On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, since the movement of the rod53 is supported by the
air bearings air cylinder 50, the rod is not rubbed with the bearing, unlike the conventional case. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5, when anexhaust apparatus 69 is driven, evacuation of air is initiated through theexhaust tubes member 60 and the driven engagemember 65, they are exhausted by theexhaust tubes - If necessary, while pure wafer is output from a pure
wafer supply passage 86, thearm member 26 is rotationally moved at least from the center to the peripheral portion by operating themotor 34 to thereby wash the surface of the wafer W uniformly. Thereafter, both thenozzle 87 and the wafer W are moved upward. While pure water is supplied onto the upper surface of the wafer W from thenozzle 87, the wafer surface is washed. After completion of the wash, attached solution is removed from the wafer W by rotating thespin chuck 22 at a high speed. In this way, the surface of the wafer is dried. The wafer W is then unloaded from theunit 6. - According to the apparatus of the aforementioned embodiment, since the rotation driving force is directly transmitted from the
motor 52 to the rod 53, the rod 53 is not affected by various external disturbances. Therefore, it becomes easy to control the pressing force and the rotation of thescrub portion 24. As a result, a predetermined scrub contact pressure can be stably obtained during the washing process, improving the reliability of the washing process. - Furthermore, since complicated parts such as a belt and a pulley are not required, the structure of the
arm member 26 can be simplified and the production of particles within thearm member 26 can be prevented. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the number of parts used in asurface processing apparatus 7 and mitigate load for assembly of the apparatus. Consequently, reduction in yield due to the particle attachment can be prevented. - In the foregoing, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained. However, the present invention is not limited to them and may be modified in various ways. For example, the substrate is not limited to a semiconductor wafer W as described in the embodiments. An LCD substrate, glass substrate, CD substrate, photomask, print substrate, ceramic substrate, and the like may be used.
- According to the present invention, since the rotation driving force is directly transmitted to the output shaft, the output axis is not affected by external disturbances (tension of the belt etc.). It follows that the scrub contact pressure and rotation drive can be readily controlled. As a result, it is possible to obtain the scrub contact pressure stably during the processing and thus the reliability of the processing can be improved. Furthermore, since complicated transmitting parts such as a belt and a pulley, are not required, it is possible to construct the arm member simply and thus particles are prevented from being produced in the arm member. Therefore, it is possible to reduce that parts used in the processing apparatus and mitigate the load required for assembly of the apparatus. As a result, it is possible to prevent a reduction in yield due to the particle attachment.
- If the thrust of the output shaft working in a vertical direction is controlled by air supply pressure, the scrub contact pressure can be smoothly controlled. Furthermore, the up-and-down moving operation and the rotational operation of the output shaft are supported by using air pressure, the bearing of the output shaft exhibits excellent rub resistance and abrasion resistance. Even if particles are produced, the scattering of particles can be prevented beforehand.
- Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Claims (17)
1. A scrub washing apparatus comprising:
a mounting table for holding a substrate to be processed substantially horizontally;
a washing liquid supply mechanism for supplying a washing liquid to the substrate mounted on the mounting table;
an arm vertically and horizontally movably supported;
an output shaft provided at the arm;
a scrub member connected directly or indirectly to the output shaft, for scrubbing the substrate on the mounting table in contact therewith;
a press mechanism moving the scrub member together with the output shaft, for pressing the scrub member against the substrate on the mounting table; and
a rotation drive mechanism provided above the press mechanism at a position where the rotation drive mechanism is capable of being engaged with the output shaft, for directly rotating the scrub member by engaging with the output shaft.
2. The apparatus according to , wherein
claim 1
the output shaft has an upper portion extending upward from the press mechanism, a driven engage member attached to the upper portion, and a lower portion extending downward from the press mechanism and connected to the scrub member; and
the rotation drive mechanism has a rotation drive shaft extending downward and a drive engage member attached to a lower end of the rotation drive shaft,
wherein the output shaft to engage the driven engage member with the drive engage member, thereby transmitting the rotation drive force from the rotation driving mechanism to the output shaft.
3. The apparatus according to , wherein the driven engage member has a plurality of projections extending along the rotation drive shaft with depressed portions formed between two adjacent projections, the drive engage member being engaged with the depressed portions.
claim 2
4. The apparatus according to , wherein
claim 2
the drive engage member has
a first connection board connected to the rotation drive shaft;
a horizontal support shaft attached to the first connection board; and
a roller supported by the horizontal support shaft,
the driven engage member has
a second connection board connected to the output shaft;
a plurality of vertical projections standing the second connection board; and
a depressed portion formed between two adjacent projections,
and, the depressed portion engages with the roller, thereby transmitting rotation driving force from the rotation drive mechanism to the output shaft.
5. The apparatus according to , wherein the press mechanism is a cylinder mechanism for controlling thrust working upwardly to the output shaft by using a pressurized fluid.
claim 1
6. The apparatus according to , wherein
claim 5
the cylinder mechanism has an air supply chamber for supplying the pressurized fluid thereinto and an exhaust-air supply chamber arranged above the air supply chamber and communicating the air supply chamber;
the output shaft extends through an upper wall and a lower wall of the air supply chamber and has a stopper within the air supply chamber or the exhaust air supply chamber; and
downward movement of the output shaft is stopped when the stopper comes into contact with the lower wall of the air supply chamber or the exhaust air supply chamber.
7. The apparatus according to , further comprising:
claim 5
an air supply passage for supplying air into the cylinder mechanism;
an electrical air supply regulator arranged at the air supply passage, for controlling a pressure of air to be supplied; and
a controller for controlling the electrical air supply regulator.
8. The apparatus according to , wherein the controller sets a pressing pressure of the scrub member against the substrate to be processed and controls a scrub contact pressure of the scrub member against the substrate on the basis of the pressing pressure thus set.
claim 7
9. The apparatus according to , wherein the cylinder mechanism has a plurality of air bearings for supporting the output shaft like an air-cushion.
claim 5
10. The apparatus according to , further comprising:
claim 1
a first exhaust mechanism for locally evacuating a portion at which the output shaft is rubbed with the press mechanism; and
a second exhaust mechanism for locally evacuating a portion at which the drive engage member is engaged with the driven engage member.
11. The apparatus according to , wherein the rotation drive mechanism has rotation drive shafts arranged linearly on an extension line of the output shaft.
claim 1
12. The apparatus according to , further comprising an air supply passage for supplying air to an air bearing within the cylinder mechanism.
claim 5
13. A scrub washing method of scrubbing a substrate with a scrub member while a washing liquid is supplied to the substrate by transmitting a press force and a rotation driving force to the scrub member by means of an output shaft and a rotation drive shaft, which comprising the steps of:
(a) setting a scrub contact pressure when the substrate is scrubbed with the scrub member, the output shaft being engaged with the rotation drive shaft and arranged on an extension line of the rotation drive shaft;
(b) mounting the substrate on a mounting table;
(c) moving the scrub member above the substrate mounted on the mounting table;
(d) moving down the scrub member together with the output shaft;
(e) transmitting a rotation drive force to the output shaft from the rotation drive shaft to rotate the scrub member; and
(f) adjusting the pressing force of the scrub member to the substrate at the scrub contact pressure set at the step (a).
14. The method according to , wherein the steps (e) and (f) are initiated after the step (a).
claim 13
15. The method according to , wherein the step (f) is initiated before the step (b).
claim 13
16. The method according to , wherein, in the step (f), the press force of the scrub member is controlled by applying thrust upwardly to the output shaft.
claim 13
17. The method according to , wherein the substrate is rotated while the scrub member is in contact with the substrate.
claim 13
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US09/892,090 US6491760B2 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 2001-06-26 | Scrub washing method |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP10216598 | 1998-03-30 | ||
JP10-102165 | 1998-03-30 | ||
US09/281,531 US6292972B1 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 1999-03-30 | Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method |
US09/892,090 US6491760B2 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 2001-06-26 | Scrub washing method |
Related Parent Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/281,531 Division US6292972B1 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 1999-03-30 | Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
US20010035200A1 true US20010035200A1 (en) | 2001-11-01 |
US6491760B2 US6491760B2 (en) | 2002-12-10 |
Family
ID=14320107
Family Applications (2)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/281,531 Expired - Fee Related US6292972B1 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 1999-03-30 | Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method |
US09/892,090 Expired - Fee Related US6491760B2 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 2001-06-26 | Scrub washing method |
Family Applications Before (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
US09/281,531 Expired - Fee Related US6292972B1 (en) | 1998-03-30 | 1999-03-30 | Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (2) | US6292972B1 (en) |
KR (1) | KR100619383B1 (en) |
DE (1) | DE19914347C2 (en) |
Cited By (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20090143894A1 (en) * | 2007-11-13 | 2009-06-04 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Bevel/backside polymer removing method and device, substrate processing apparatus and storage medium |
CN104492780A (en) * | 2014-12-16 | 2015-04-08 | 苏州光宝康电子有限公司 | Adjusting mechanism of scraper for LCD (liquid crystal display) production |
CN106213903A (en) * | 2016-08-26 | 2016-12-14 | 浙江维融电子科技股份有限公司 | A kind of bank self-help sales counter with face identification device |
CN109518381A (en) * | 2018-11-07 | 2019-03-26 | 浙江盛邦化纤有限公司 | A kind of chemical fabric cleaning device |
CN110153062A (en) * | 2019-05-09 | 2019-08-23 | 叶连波 | A kind of automobile screw rod batch cleaning equipment |
US11365590B2 (en) | 2013-11-08 | 2022-06-21 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Dynamic wear prediction for fixed cutter drill bits |
Families Citing this family (15)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP3990073B2 (en) * | 1999-06-17 | 2007-10-10 | 株式会社荏原製作所 | Substrate cleaning apparatus and substrate cleaning method |
US6446296B1 (en) * | 2000-03-06 | 2002-09-10 | Rite Track Equipment Services, Inc. | Substrate cleaning apparatus with brush force control and method |
JP2001246331A (en) * | 2000-03-08 | 2001-09-11 | Sharp Corp | Cleaning device |
US6622335B1 (en) * | 2000-03-29 | 2003-09-23 | Lam Research Corporation | Drip manifold for uniform chemical delivery |
KR100877044B1 (en) * | 2000-10-02 | 2008-12-31 | 도쿄엘렉트론가부시키가이샤 | Cleaning treatment device |
US6827092B1 (en) * | 2000-12-22 | 2004-12-07 | Lam Research Corporation | Wafer backside plate for use in a spin, rinse, and dry module and methods for making and implementing the same |
KR100403517B1 (en) * | 2000-12-29 | 2003-10-30 | (주)케이.씨.텍 | Wafer cleaning apparatus |
JP3865602B2 (en) * | 2001-06-18 | 2007-01-10 | 大日本スクリーン製造株式会社 | Substrate cleaning device |
DE102007006592B3 (en) * | 2007-02-09 | 2008-02-14 | Preh Gmbh | Liquid protected turning setting element with corona illumination e.g. for motor vehicle, has housing, handle with light guide arranged between housing and handle |
US20110296634A1 (en) * | 2010-06-02 | 2011-12-08 | Jingdong Jia | Wafer side edge cleaning apparatus |
US9421617B2 (en) | 2011-06-22 | 2016-08-23 | Tel Nexx, Inc. | Substrate holder |
US9117856B2 (en) | 2011-07-06 | 2015-08-25 | Tel Nexx, Inc. | Substrate loader and unloader having an air bearing support |
JP5937456B2 (en) * | 2012-08-07 | 2016-06-22 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Substrate cleaning device and substrate cleaning unit |
CN107297372B (en) * | 2017-08-17 | 2023-03-21 | 安徽威尔低碳科技股份有限公司 | Automatic scrubbing device and method for light tank |
CN211957594U (en) * | 2020-05-29 | 2020-11-17 | 北京鲁汶半导体科技有限公司 | Ion beam etching rotary platform |
Family Cites Families (12)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JP2715756B2 (en) * | 1991-11-01 | 1998-02-18 | 日本電気株式会社 | Substrate cleaning device |
US5518542A (en) * | 1993-11-05 | 1996-05-21 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Double-sided substrate cleaning apparatus |
JP3328426B2 (en) * | 1994-05-12 | 2002-09-24 | 東京エレクトロン株式会社 | Cleaning equipment |
DE69522617T2 (en) * | 1994-06-28 | 2002-07-04 | Ebara Corp | Method and device for cleaning workpieces |
US5475889A (en) * | 1994-07-15 | 1995-12-19 | Ontrak Systems, Inc. | Automatically adjustable brush assembly for cleaning semiconductor wafers |
JP2887197B2 (en) | 1994-09-20 | 1999-04-26 | 大日本スクリーン製造株式会社 | Rotary substrate cleaning equipment |
KR0171491B1 (en) * | 1994-09-20 | 1999-03-30 | 이시다 아키라 | Rotary substrate washing apparatus |
JPH08141519A (en) | 1994-09-20 | 1996-06-04 | Dainippon Screen Mfg Co Ltd | Rotary substrate-washing apparatus |
TW316995B (en) * | 1995-01-19 | 1997-10-01 | Tokyo Electron Co Ltd | |
US5685039A (en) * | 1995-05-12 | 1997-11-11 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Cleaning apparatus |
JPH09260320A (en) * | 1996-03-26 | 1997-10-03 | Nippon Steel Corp | Cleaner |
DE69737926T2 (en) * | 1996-10-21 | 2008-04-10 | Ebara Corp. | cleaning device |
-
1999
- 1999-03-30 US US09/281,531 patent/US6292972B1/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1999-03-30 DE DE19914347A patent/DE19914347C2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 1999-03-30 KR KR1019990010995A patent/KR100619383B1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
2001
- 2001-06-26 US US09/892,090 patent/US6491760B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Cited By (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US20090143894A1 (en) * | 2007-11-13 | 2009-06-04 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Bevel/backside polymer removing method and device, substrate processing apparatus and storage medium |
US8821644B2 (en) * | 2007-11-13 | 2014-09-02 | Tokyo Electron Limited | Bevel/backside polymer removing method and device, substrate processing apparatus and storage medium |
US11365590B2 (en) | 2013-11-08 | 2022-06-21 | Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. | Dynamic wear prediction for fixed cutter drill bits |
CN104492780A (en) * | 2014-12-16 | 2015-04-08 | 苏州光宝康电子有限公司 | Adjusting mechanism of scraper for LCD (liquid crystal display) production |
CN106213903A (en) * | 2016-08-26 | 2016-12-14 | 浙江维融电子科技股份有限公司 | A kind of bank self-help sales counter with face identification device |
CN109518381A (en) * | 2018-11-07 | 2019-03-26 | 浙江盛邦化纤有限公司 | A kind of chemical fabric cleaning device |
CN110153062A (en) * | 2019-05-09 | 2019-08-23 | 叶连波 | A kind of automobile screw rod batch cleaning equipment |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
KR19990078403A (en) | 1999-10-25 |
US6292972B1 (en) | 2001-09-25 |
DE19914347C2 (en) | 2003-11-06 |
US6491760B2 (en) | 2002-12-10 |
KR100619383B1 (en) | 2006-09-06 |
DE19914347A1 (en) | 1999-11-25 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US6292972B1 (en) | Scrub washing apparatus and scrub washing method | |
US6432212B1 (en) | Substrate washing method | |
US5882426A (en) | Method of cleaning a substrate by scrubbing | |
US6916231B2 (en) | Polishing apparatus | |
KR100309029B1 (en) | Cleaning treatment device and cleaning treatment method | |
US6059891A (en) | Apparatus and method for washing substrate | |
EP0843341B1 (en) | Apparatus and method for washing substrate | |
JP4757882B2 (en) | Substrate cleaning apparatus, substrate cleaning method, substrate processing system, and recording medium | |
CN107818928B (en) | Substrate cleaning apparatus, substrate processing apparatus, substrate cleaning method, and substrate processing method | |
US6929529B2 (en) | Polishing apparatus | |
US8316497B2 (en) | Substrate processing apparatus | |
JPH0699348A (en) | Wafer polishing device | |
US6245156B1 (en) | Substrate transport method and apparatus, and substrate processing system | |
JP5050945B2 (en) | Coating and developing apparatus and coating and developing method | |
KR20170095748A (en) | Substrate cleaning apparatus and substrate processing apparatus | |
JP3321725B2 (en) | Cleaning equipment | |
JP2001070896A (en) | Substrate washing device | |
JPH11354480A (en) | Wafer washing method and wafer washing device | |
JPH11135463A (en) | Processing device and processing method | |
JP3292367B2 (en) | Cleaning device and cleaning method | |
JP3457211B2 (en) | Processing device and processing method | |
JP3862435B2 (en) | Polishing device | |
JP2024034806A (en) | Substrate processing equipment and brush falling detection method | |
KR20240031920A (en) | Substrate processing device and substrate processing method | |
TW202235215A (en) | Horizontal buffing module |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
FEPP | Fee payment procedure |
Free format text: PAYOR NUMBER ASSIGNED (ORIGINAL EVENT CODE: ASPN); ENTITY STATUS OF PATENT OWNER: LARGE ENTITY |
|
FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 4 |
|
FPAY | Fee payment |
Year of fee payment: 8 |
|
REMI | Maintenance fee reminder mailed | ||
LAPS | Lapse for failure to pay maintenance fees | ||
STCH | Information on status: patent discontinuation |
Free format text: PATENT EXPIRED DUE TO NONPAYMENT OF MAINTENANCE FEES UNDER 37 CFR 1.362 |
|
FP | Lapsed due to failure to pay maintenance fee |
Effective date: 20141210 |